Full Description

Regional water management has long been practiced throughout history. The Roman Empire,the Anasazi Indians of the Southwestern United States, and countless water agencies and districts across thewestern United States have long endeavored to bring water to arid areas that receive little local rainfall.Early efforts focused on bringing supply to densely populated areas, or for crop irrigation. Over time, thescarcity of water coupled with environmental and social concerns has resulted in an increasingly complexregulatory environment surrounding the management of water resources. This complex interplay has led tostatewide, regional, and local battles over how to manage water resources in a sustainable fashion overtime. Within California, the state legislature has recognized this problem, and fostered a new way ofmanaging water resources called Integrated Regional Water Management Planning (IRWMP).IRWMP focuses on maximizing the beneficial use of water resources across all disciplines including watersupply and quality, flood control, wastewater and water reuse, and watershed and habitat management andprotection. Rather than an either/or notion of water being managed for a single purpose, IRWMP focuseson maximizing the benefit of water resources management for as many uses as possible. With IRWMP, itis possible to create water management scenarios that benefit both the human uses of water whilemaintaining and even improving the environment. This paper explores the idea of IRWMP as a meansof promoting the wise and sustainable management of water resources. The paper discusses thehistorical context for regional water management, including the problems encountered in California due tothe movement of water for urban and agricultural use. The discussion then focuses on the developmentof IRWMP in California, including the State's IRWMP grant program. Focusing on the Bay Area as a casestudy, the paper concludes with a discussion of the opportunities and challenges associated withimplementing IRWMP at a larger regional level, including recommendations for improving IRWMP at theregional and state levels. Includes 15 references, figures.

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Edition: Vol. - No. Published: 06/01/2007 Number of Pages: 49File Size: 1 file , 5.8 MB